


fairytales our mothers told us

by greywardenblue



Category: October Daye Series - Seanan McGuire
Genre: Book 6: Ashes of Honor, F/F, F/M, Fictober 2019
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-30
Updated: 2019-10-30
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:55:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,157
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23171293
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/greywardenblue/pseuds/greywardenblue
Summary: Chelsea accidentally reveals Faerie. It goes better than expected, all things considered.
Relationships: Chelsea Ames/Gillian Daye Marks, October "Toby" Daye/Tybalt
Comments: 2
Kudos: 27





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Prompts in this work:  
> "Listen, I can't explain it, but you have to trust me."  
> "What if I don't see it?"  
> "Yes, I admit it, you were right."  
> "Listen. No, really, listen."

Chelsea and Gillian had met in a Harry Potter-themed camp one summer. Chelsea was more into movies and videogames, and Gillian was more into books, but they hit it off immediately despite this very important difference. If Gillian ever thought some of Chelsea’s quirks were strange (like having her hair cover her ears all the time - Gillian would have gone crazy if she couldn’t brush it behind hers)… well, some people were just weirdos, okay? But she’s seen weirder, and Chelsea quickly became a good friend that developed into a crush over the years.

So when a portal opened in the middle of the room and Chelsea stepped through it, Gillian didn’t run away while screaming her head off. She considered it, but she didn’t.

Chelsea stared at Gillian. Gillian stared at Chelsea.

“Listen,” Chelsea said. “I can’t really explain this. But please, you have to trust me.”

Gillian thought of the strange dreams she’s been having since she woke up on that bench in the park with no memories of the previous days, and she knew that if she opened her mouth, she _would_ scream. So she only nodded once, and waited.

Chelsea breathed out. “So. I know this is really weird.”

“That’s a huge fucking understatement, Chelsea,” Gillian said, barely noticing the curse.

Chelsea smiled nervously, then sat down on the bed. “Uh… are you gonna sit down?”

Gillian did.

“Thanks for not running away screaming,” Chelsea said, and Gillian wondered if mind reading was one of her freaky powers too. “Actually, I don’t know if I should be saying thank you. Mom said I’m not supposed to, but it’s not like she knows for sure, and it’s not like anyone else ever explained how this whole thing is supposed to work, so…”

“Can we go back to the beginning?” Gillian asked.

Chelsea took a deep breath. “Right. A little more than sixteen years ago, a folklore teacher from Berkeley met a man…”

Gillian raised her hands. “Yeah, I didn’t mean to go back that far.”

“No, this is relevant! Please. So my mom met this guy, and they had this awesome conversation about her field of research, and I guess they hooked up or whatever. And sure, she thought it was a little weird, the way he talked about the Fair Folk, and the way he wouldn’t tell mom where he lived or what he worked, but you don’t really jump to the conclusion that if a guy is weird he must not be human, right? Well, not until you end up with a kid who comes out even weirder.”

“Your dad is a fairy,” Gillian said, just to make sure they were on the same page here.

Chelsea cringed. “I guess. I mean, I never met him, and Mom always said that if he found out I existed he’d probably try to take me with him to Fairyland, so… And if other people found out, they’d either try to dissect me, or lock us both in an asylum or something. So it’s not really something I talk about a lot.” Chelsea was gripping her blanket nervously and didn’t meet her eyes. “I wanted to tell you. But…”

“I wouldn’t have believed you,” Gillian said, and she thought she might be lying.

“Yeah, I figured.”

They were quiet for a moment, and Gillian tried her best not to think of the field with the two other hers.

“Your mom is hiding you, right?” she asked. “So… you don’t really know any _real_ fairies.”

Chelsea shook her head. “Never met one. Not that I know of, I mean. Mom says she suspects there are at least a few on campus, but again, college students are so weird in general, you really can’t accuse them of being faeries without good proof. Not that it would be a good idea to accuse them anyway. Mom told me if I just think someone might be a faerie, I should go the other way very quickly.”

Gillian stared at the fluffy kittens pattern on the blanket with their fancy little bows. “Do you think my birth mother might be a fairy?” she asked very quietly. When she looked up, Chelsea was looking at her with wide eyes.

“Why do you think that?”

Gillian took a deep breath, and told her about the strange dreams. The woman with the red hair, and her mom with the strange ears, and the two hers that looked like her and still different, and Toby telling her she had to choose. She told Chelsea about the memories that were so vague they might as well be dreams too, of her mom’s laughter, the tinkling of bells, and the smell of grass. Chelsea listened quietly, and to her credit, she didn’t interrupt.

“Do you feel really weird in the mornings?” Chelsea asked. “Like, around dawn?”

“Yes,” Gillian said.

Chelsea nodded. “I always thought I just wasn’t a morning person, but Mom says dawn is a significant time for magic… Do you ever get rashes or feel weird if you touch something with iron?”

Gillian looked down at her hands. “I used to. Not since… not since the dreams.”

Chelsea nodded, thoughtfully. “Well, then… obviously it’s not conclusive evidence or anything, but… yeah, I think your mom might be a faerie.” Gillian must have looked like she was about to throw up, because Chelsea followed it up with, “Do you wanna eat ice cream about it?”

“Yes please,” Gillian said. “Also, you’ve _got to_ tell me more about the portal things.”

Chelsea laughed, and Gillian smiled back, and despite the sick feeling in her stomach, she told herself things might be alright.

\--

The plan was the following: Gillian would convince her father to invite October over for dinner at their place so that she could get to know her mother. Chelsea would be there too, and the two of them would watch how Toby acted. They both had some concerns about the plan: Chelsea was worried she’d be recognized and taken if Toby was really a fairy. Gillian was worried Toby might be careful not to act suspicious in front of her parents, but she still didn’t want to risk going to the woman’s place alone.

“Are you sure about this, sweetheart?” her mother asked, clearly nervous. “You don’t owe her anything. I know you might feel like you have to hear her out, but you don’t.”

“But I want to,” Gillian said, and she meant it. She wanted to know why October left, why she wasn’t good enough to make her stay. Was Fairyland so much better? But then why did she bother having a child?

Her and Chelsea kept glancing at each other, both of them tense. Chelsea had her ears covered and kept nervously fiddling with her beaded bracelet. When the doorbell rang, Gillian heard her father’s footsteps as he went to answer, and she could see her mother was as tense as she felt. She knew that if it was up to Miranda, this never would have happened, and maybe it would have been better.

She froze when she heard Toby’s voice, and… somebody else? There was a man with her. Gillian stepped closer until she saw the front door and heard the conversation.

“And this is…” Toby hesitated for the second, and the man next to her smiled brightly and offered his hand to Cliff.

“Rand Stratford. The boyfriend. I hope it’s not a problem I joined?”

Strangely, Toby looked as surprised as Cliff did, and Gillian couldn’t see very well, but she thought she might be blushing as well. Gillian glanced at Chelsea again, then her father was leading the pair inside. Toby was wearing a skirt and a light blue blouse, like she was trying to dress to impress without being too formal. In contrast, Gillian was wearing a worn T-shirt with Orlando Bloom as Legolas on it. She was pretty sure it had a hole somewhere near the hem, too.

“Hi,” Toby said with a shy smile. 

“Hi," Gillian said uncertainly, then she reached out to pull Chelsea next to her. “This is my girlfriend, Chelsea.” Gillian watched Toby’s face closely. If she decided to be an asshole about it, then at least she had an excuse to cut this short.

Toby looked surprised for a second, and Gillian could see her gaze linger on Chelsea’s face, the way she sucked in a breath through her mouth before closing it. Then she smiled. “Hi, Chelsea. It’s very nice to meet you. I’m Toby, and this is– Rand.”

“I met Melanie a couple of days ago," Cliff said. "You know, my old coworker? She was saying all kinds of things. Apparently, she saw you with this crazy dyed hair kissing some woman in the park.” He smiled. “I was expecting you to show up with your hair bright pink or something.”

Toby laughed. “Yeah, no. That’s my sister, May. She and her girlfriend Jazz live with me at the moment. And for the record, her hair is purple, not bright pink.”

“Since when do you have a sister?” Miranda asked suddenly. Toby frowned at the question.

“My mother gave May up for adoption when we were small, so I didn’t know she existed for a long time. Then recently she decided to track her birth family down, and she found me.” Toby shrugged. “We get along well, and she pays half the rent, so it worked out fine.”

Gillian glanced at her mother. Miranda looked like she wanted to argue, but she turned her head away and walked into the kitchen.

“Can I get you some coffee?” Cliff asked, leading Toby towards the dining room. Rand kept his hand on Toby’s waist, following next to her. 

Gillian jumped a little when Chelsea reached down to squeeze her hand. “We’ll be fine. This will go off without a hitch,” she murmured, and she didn’t know who she was reassuring.

–

“Why did you say you were my boyfriend?” Toby asked as they walked back to where she parked her car. She had invited Tybalt along for support because she hated the idea of sitting there alone, but she invited him as one of her closest friends, and she nearly ruined the cover when he introduced himself otherwise.

“It had more dramatic tension,” Tybalt said. “You show up at your ex-fiancé’s place with your new boyfriend who is younger, more handsome, and worships the ground you walk on… I thought it would give you more power in the conversation, and I feel I was right.”

Toby coughed, and hoped it wasn’t too obvious that she blushed when he talked about the whole worshiping thing. “You’re _not_ younger than Cliff.”

Tybalt smirked. “But I look it, don’t I?”

“If I had known you were going to introduce yourself as my boyfriend…” she glanced around quickly, content when she saw there was nobody around. She lowered her voice anyway. “I would have told you to make your illusions older! Now Cliff is going to think I’m a… a…”

“A cougar?” Tybalt supplied helpfully.

Toby let out a squeak and punched him in the arm. “You jerk!” Tybalt laughed genuinely, and she felt light again. But something was still bugging her even as she played with her car keys, not ready to end the conversation and get in the car. More than one thing, really.

“Back there…” Toby started, and Tybalt waited patiently for her to continue. “You really acted like… I mean…” Why was this so difficult to put in words? “You acted like you were completely smitten with me. And I know it was just a role, but I almost believed it. Not that _you_ are in love with me,” she added quickly when Tybalt opened his mouth, “just that… that I deserve to have someone like you look at me like that.”

Tybalt stared at her in shock, then suddenly took a step closer, and spoke with such intensity that Toby wanted the ground to swallow her. “ _Of course_ you deserve it. Who told you you didn’t?”

Devin’s name came to the tip of her tongue, followed by her mother’s, and by all the courtiers who shunned the plain changeling girl when Amandine still took her places. But she didn’t say any of them. “Just… what if I don’t see it?” she asked helplessly. Not that she thought she’d never love again - she didn’t have a self-esteem that low, even in her grief. But to have a pureblood noble who was also kind and caring and incredibly handsome ever consider her as an option? It was a daydream at most.

Tybalt sighed, then leant in to press a kiss to the top of her head. “Then I’ll just have to keep telling you.” He was so close that she could almost feel his warmth, and she could definitely feel the faint scent of penny-royal and musk that surrounded him wherever he went. She realized that she desperately needed to change the topic.

“About that Chelsea girl…”

Tybalt nodded before she could finish, and took a small step back. “A changeling without proper illusions.”

“She’s Tuatha,” Toby said. “And she’s lived with her human mother all her life! That is a huge security risk. How did they go this long without being noticed by either side?”

Tybalt was silent, and Toby thought she knew what he was thinking, because she was thinking the same thing, too. She would have to tell someone, likely Sylvester, or risk Faerie being discovered. But there was no outcome to this that didn’t end up with a mother and a child separated.

“You know… Her magic smelt a little like Etienne’s.”

Tybalt gave her a surprised look. “You’re right. I knew it was familiar, but I couldn’t figure it out.” He smirked and leaned closer again, conspiratorially. “Do you think the virtuous knight has a secret love child?”

Toby stared at him. “Have you _met_ Etienne?”

Tybalt made a face and pulled back. “You’re right, it’s unrealistic. Maybe she’s a niece or cousin. I have no idea if he has any family.”

“Neither do I,” Toby said. “That’s weird. Why don’t I know if Etienne has any family? I’ve known him since I was a kid.”

Her phone rang before he could answer, and she answered it after seeing Walther’s name.

“Yes?”

“Hi, Toby. Just out of curiosity, how long would it take you to get to me from where you are right now?”

Toby looked at her car, then looked at Tybalt. “How long to Berkeley through the Shadow Roads?” she asked.

“Around twenty minutes,” Tybalt said.

“We’ll be there in twenty-five,” Toby told Walther, then hung up.

“What was that about?”

“He didn’t say, but he sounded tense. We should hurry.” She held her hands out for Tybalt to take, but he wasn’t moving.

“You’re not even going to ask if I have anywhere to be?” he asked, his face unreadable.

Toby realized what she just did and dropped her hands quickly. When did she go from rejecting Tybalt’s help to taking it for granted? “I’m so sorry, I didn’t even think… I really appreciate that you came with me, and I shouldn’t have assumed you had more time.”

Tybalt smiled and reached for her hand. “I do have somewhere to be,” he said. “And apparently, it’s Berkeley. Shall we go?”

He pulled her towards the shadows before she could recover, and she let out a surprised laugh. “You jerk!” she said last, then the shadows pulled them in.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A week later...

Tybalt stopped in the middle of the sentence, and Toby did the same, turning her head towards her front porch. There was somebody standing there, raising her hand to knock without noticing the pair. Toby watched as May opened the door, and the visitor and her stared at each other in shock. Toby broke into a half-run, and the sound of footsteps made the visitor turn around.

“Gillian? Is everything okay?” Toby asked, with Tybalt following closely behind. It had been a week since they had the very awkward dinner that Cliff invited her to, and Gillian hadn’t made any effort to reach out since then.

“Hi, Toby,” Gillian said, looking uncomfortable. “Hi, Rand. So, I guess this is your… twin sister?”

May forced a smile, and Toby knew she was likely screaming inside. To have Gillian treat her as a complete stranger with all the memories she had… Toby knew exactly how that felt. “Hi! I’m your Aunt May. Nice to finally meet you.”

“Why don’t we all go in?” Toby proposed, and they did. She knew she was fidgeting - the illusions were hiding the bloodstains on her clothes, but she could still feel them, and she was itching to get into something clean. She would have made Etienne wait while she changed, but she couldn’t do that to Gillian.

“Are you sure it’s really her?” May asked under her breath while Toby took her jacket off, and Tybalt was showing Gillian something in the opposite direction from the dining room, where Toby guessed Etienne was. “Not another shapeshifter?”

Toby frowned. If Gillian, or someone looking like her showed up at her house a few weeks ago, that might have been her first association as well - but she saw the girl in person recently, so the possibility didn’t occur to her. “I’m fairly sure Tybalt would notice if she was,” she said. “But we’ll find out soon enough. Is everyone wearing illusions?”

May hurried off to make sure the answer was yes, and Toby turned to collect her daughter and– _oh, shit_. She had a sudden realization that Gillian was under the impression she was dating Tybalt. Who thought that was a good idea again?

“Let’s go sit down, and you can tell me what’s wrong,” Toby said, and they walked into the dining room. “Hi, Etienne,” she said to the uncomfortable-looking man at the table. Well, he could deal. He wasn’t the one secretly covered in blood after being shot multiple times. “Do you mind if I hear Gillian out first?”

Etienne looked like he minded, but Toby knew he was too proper to say it. “Of course not. Go ahead.”

Gillian looked at the strangers around the table and frowned, then looked at Toby. “Are you sure?”

Toby nodded. “It’s fine, don’t worry. These are all my friends.”

Gillian looked like she wanted to argue, but then she must have decided not to waste more time. “Chelsea is missing,” she said. Etienne straightened his back so quickly he nearly fell off the chair, but Toby wasn’t focusing on him. “We were walking home from school together, and she just… vanished. She hasn’t been answering her phone since then, and I knew she wouldn’t just leave like that without telling me. Her mom is freaking out and she’s sure that her dad took her, but…”

“That’s not true,” Etienne said. Everyone looked at him, and judging by the look on his face, he was just as surprised by his outburst as everyone else. But he continued. “Oak and ash, I would never. I didn’t even _know_.”

There was silence in the room. May and Quentin looked very confused, but when Toby looked at Tybalt, she could see the grin forming on his mouth.

She groaned. “Don’t.”

Tybalt smiled at her innocently. “I have no idea what you mean.”

Toby threw her hands up. “Yes, I admit it! You were right! Etienne _does_ have a secret love child! Are you happy now?”

Quentin made a choked sound, and Etienne stood up from his seat. “You knew?” he asked desperately. Toby had the decency to look ashamed. “How?”

“I didn’t really know. I told Tybalt she resembled you a bit, but we both thought it was a weird coincidence–”

Several people started talking at the same time, but somehow Gillian’s exclamation didn’t get lost in the chaos. “So you _are_ a fairy!”

That shut everyone up again, and this time they stared at the girl, but she was only staring at Toby. Toby stared back, desperately trying to remember if she said anything about magic or similar things, but she couldn’t recall any.

“What makes you say something like that, Gillian?” she asked carefully.

Gillian wasn’t having any of it. “I already knew Chelsea’s father is a fairy. And now you’re telling me it’s _that_ man–” She gestured towards Etienne. “And I suspected you were too, and now he’s sitting at your table, so we must have been right!”

“Would somebody fill me in on whatever the hell is going on?” May asked. “Etienne, you have a kid? Toby, you _knew_ Etienne had a kid?”

“How about we all take turns speaking and telling each other what we know?” Tybalt said. “Gillian, you can start.”

Gillian swallowed. “Well…” She took a deep breath. “Okay. So, about two weeks ago, I went over to Chelsea’s place like we agreed, but she wasn’t–”

“How do you know Chelsea?” Etienne asked. Gillian glared at her.

“We met in summer camp. I thought I was the one speaking? Anyway. I went over to her place and her mom said she’s not home yet, but I can wait upstairs in her room. I did, and then… this portal appeared out of nowhere and Chelsea came through it.”

Etienne sat back down and buried his face in his hands, and Toby was tempted to do the same.

“She told me everything she knew,” Gillian said. “Which is not a lot. Her mom teaches folklore, she met this weird guy, and she didn’t really think he was a fairy until her kid started looking weird one day. She’s been hiding Chelsea because she thought the fairies would take her, and now they did.”

“October, do you mind going next?” Tybalt said calmly. Toby glared at him a little, then sighed.

“Okay. A week ago Cliff called and Quentin picked up the phone. Apparently he wanted to invite me over to dinner to get to know Gillian. I…” She hesitated. “I wanted that. Very much. So I said yes and dragged Tybalt with me so I wouldn’t be sitting there alone.”

“Wait. His name is Tybalt?” Gillian asked.

Toby nodded. “Not that it’s important right now, but yes. So we went, and Gillian’s girlfriend was there. I noticed she was a changeling almost immediately, and I knew she was a Tuatha, but…” She shook her head, looking at Etienne. “I didn’t really think it was your daughter. I knew I should have brought it up with Sylvester immediately, but…”

“A changeling daughter living among humans without any proper illusions and never made the Choice,” Tybalt said. “Her mother was right to worry. She would have been taken, at least until she learns how to hide herself better.”

Toby suspected he added the last part for Gillian’s benefit. She knew that if Chelsea chose Faerie, there was a very small chance she could have been allowed back in the human world after some training to play faerie bride, but that was… unlikely.

“I _was_ going to bring it up soon,” Toby said. “But I haven’t been to Shadowed Hills in a while, and I was busy with the goblin fruit. It’s only been a week. Your turn, Etienne.”

Etienne still looked uncomfortable. “Is there any chance we could talk about this alone?”

“Seriously?” May asked. “I mean come on, dude. We already know you have an illegitimate changeling daughter. Just tell us the story.”

“You don’t know everything,” Etienne said desperately. “That is the major part, yes, but the circumstances of me meeting Bridget… It is not something I easily share.”

Toby thought about what Sylvester would say if he found out - what he’d say to both of them, since Toby had known for a week and said nothing - and took pity on him. “Fine,” she said. “Etienne, you’re going to come upstairs with me and tell me anything that can be relevant. Then you will come back downstairs while I change into something fresh, and then I will come down too and everyone who remembered anything else can tell me that. So don’t run off, any of you. Deal?”

Everyone muttered their assent, and Toby took a deep breath. “Alright.” She turned to Gillian again, who was now sitting in her chair and staring at her hands. “Gilly…”

“Just find her,” she said before Toby could finish. “Find Chelsea, bring her home safe. _Then_ we can talk about the rest.”

Toby nodded, but she didn’t open her mouth to make a promise. She couldn’t. “I’ll be back in a few minutes,” she said instead, and walked upstairs with a very uncomfortable Etienne in tow.

\--

“I’m coming with you,” Gillian said.

“Absolutely not,” Toby said.

Gillian crossed her arms. “Oh, really? So Chelsea’s mom thinks her faerie dad kidnapped her, and you, two non-human strangers sent by the faerie dad, will just show up there and she’s not going to freak out? At least she _knows_ me.”

“That’s…” Toby frowned. “… actually a good point. Fine, you can come to see Bridget Ames with us, but that’s it. After that, you’re going home.”

Gillian was silent, and foolishly, Toby decided to take that as agreement.

–

“I already told you,” Bridget said, raising the iron pan. “Go away!”

Gillian reached out and grabbed the pan without flinching. Bridget stared at her in shock.

“You… but… I thought…”

“Ms Ames,” Gillian said, exasperated. “We’re telling you the truth, okay? This is my bio mom, she’s a detective, and I asked her to help us find Chelsea.”

Bridget still eyed Toby and Quentin suspiciously for a few seconds, then deflated. “Of course,” she said. “I’m sorry, Gillian. I’m just a little on edge. You can come in.”

They did, and Toby was quietly grateful they brought Gillian along. It seemed like the decision helped keep their cover.

“Chelsea told me what she knows, and she showed me the portals,” Gillian said once they were inside. “Toby thinks maybe she wasn’t taken, she just accidentally opened one and can’t open one back.”

Or not.

Bridget stiffened again, looking between the three of them. “I was right. You _are_ faeries.”

“I never said they weren’t,” Gillian said quickly. “I said she’s my mother and we’re here to help, and that is true.”

“She can’t be your mother,” Bridget said. “That would make you faerie too, and you touched the pan. This would have hurt even Chelsea, and she’s only half.”

Toby bit back the first response that came to mind. Bridget seemed to know a lot, but she was far from knowing everything. “I’m half-faerie,” she said instead. “That makes Gillian a quarter. She’s more human than she is faerie, and she grew up human, just like Chelsea did.”

“Not exactly like Chelsea,” Gillian said with a frown. “I never knew you weren’t human. My _dad_ still doesn’t know. I only know now because Chelsea told me she is and I got suspicious. It’s no thanks to you.”

Bridget kept looking between the two, and Toby wondered how much she knew about Gillian’s family life. She must have known Toby wasn’t the mother who lived with her, no matter how much that stung.

“Tell her about Chelsea’s dad,” Gillian said.

Toby turned to Bridget. “Etienne didn’t take your daughter,” she said. Bridget looked skeptical, and she still hasn’t put down the pan, although it didn’t seem like she was going to lash out with it. “He’s the one who asked me to find her.”

“I thought Gillian asked you to find her,” Bridget said, eager to poke a hole into the story.

Toby sighed. “They both did. Around the same time, actually. Gillian can confirm that.”

Gillian looked a little uncomfortable. “The guy did look pretty worried,” she admitted. “And he’s paying Toby a lot to find Chelsea.”

“Oh, good,” Bridget said. “At least then you won’t expect me to do that. Now, if you would take off your masks, please. I would prefer to know who I’m letting inside.”

Toby stiffened. “I’m not sure that’s–”

“Does it matter at this point?” Gillian asked. Toby exchanged a look with Quentin, then they both obeyed.

Bridget was eyeing Gillian. “What about you?”

Gillian shrugged. “I’m not wearing any mask. This is what I look like.” 

“And now, please,” Toby said. “We’d like to see Chelsea’s room.”

–

In her shock and fear, Bridget seemingly brushed over the fact that Chelsea had told Gillian about her magic, but the realization dawned on her while the four of them were looking around Chelsea’s room. Things didn’t look good, and Toby was increasingly worried as she slipped the notebook with evidence of Chelsea’s experiments into her jacket.

“We should get moving,” Toby said, already planning where to go next. “Gillian, is it okay if you get a bus home from here?”

Gillian stared at her. “What? I’m coming with you.”

Toby stared back. “No, you’re not. We’ve agreed you can come to Bridget, but that’s it.”

Gillian scoffed. “I never agreed to that. I want to help you find Chelsea.”

“Listen,” Toby said, and frowned when Gillian opened her mouth to argue. “No, really, _listen_. Under any other circumstance, I would love to spend time with you, and tell you more about our world. I wanted to, for so long. But if Chelsea was taken by somebody, then this is going to be dangerous, and I’m not putting you in the way of that. Please, go home to your dad.”

“But he gets to go, and he’s not any older than me!” Gillian said, gesturing at Quentin.

“The first time I went on a quest with Toby, I got shot,” Quentin deadpanned. “Also, our car exploded. This was the same week.”

Gillian stared at him, seemingly trying to decide if he was lying.

“She can stay here,” Bridget said quietly. “I think we have a lot to talk about. I can call her parents.”

Toby hesitated. Bridget was clearly distraught, and Toby wouldn’t have excluded the possibility that she would try to keep Gillian hostage in return for Chelsea, especially if she learned Chelsea couldn’t come home at all.

“I really think you should go home,” she told Gillian, but the girl was already shaking her head. 

“No, I’ll stay here with Ms Ames. Call us if you find anything, okay?”

Toby eyed them both for a few seconds, still wary. “Fine,” she said. “I’m giving you my phone number. Both of you save it, and you call me if anything happens, okay? Also call me if she comes home, the kidnappers might follow her even if she manages to get away.” If Chelsea came home, she was sure Bridget would pack up their house in an hour and leave, but she didn’t say that.

She left the house with a heavy heart, followed by Quentin. They would have to bring that girl home, whatever happened next.


End file.
